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God First, Man Second: 2 Chronicles 7:13-16

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. ~2 Chronicles 7:13-16


Revival! The very word breeds energy. It gets the juices flowing. And nothing speaks of revival more than this interchange between God and Solomon. This happens just after Solomon finishes the Temple of God, although I imagine, as king, Solomon did not actually get his hands dirty. But whatever...

I'm also quite sure that this little conversation happens long before Solomon writes Ecclesaistes, when everything is meaningless. No I imagine this was at a time when Solomon still had the wisdom to catch what God was saying.

God indicates that there will be a day when He shuts up the heavens. There will be plagues and locusts. It will happen. But just as surely as that happens, He will also open those heavens up. He will listen and hear. He will heal. These are the focal points of this conversation. God can do it. God will do it.

The people will be revived. There is no mistake in that. The mistake comes when we start to believe that revival is one of the 3 wishes we have when we rub the magic lamp that contains God. That's the problem when we read this passage of scripture backwards and assume it's more about us than it is about God.

All we have to do is humble ourselves, pray, dance a little jig and...voila! No, its not a magic key. God's hand is never forced. The healing comes because God is a Healer. The prayers are heard because God is a Father. The sin is forgiven because God is a Savior.

Thank you God.
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